Night at the Museum (franchise)

Night at the Museum
Franchise logo
Created by	Robert Ben Garant Thomas Lennon
Original work	Night at the Museum (2006)
Owner	20th Century Studios
Years	2006-present
Based on	The Night at the Museum by Milan Trenc
Print publications
Novel(s)	Night at the Museum: The Junior Novelization (2006)
Films and television
Film(s)	Night at the Museum (2006) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again (2022)
Games
Video game(s)	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Night at the Museum is a mixed live action (first 3 films) and traditionally animated (4th film) American media franchise of fantasy-comedy films based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Milan Trenc, directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Starring Ben Stiller as a museum night security guard named Larry Daley, the first 3 films also star an ensemble cast featuring Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan, Patrick Gallagher, Rami Malek, Mizuo Peck, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Brad Garrett and Dick Van Dyke, while the video game and 4th film feature a recast ensemble of voice actors.

Films

Night at the Museum (2006)

Main article: Night at the Museum

When Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), a divorced father who was having trouble finding a job, applies for a job at the American Museum of Natural History, he is assigned as a night guard. However, a seemingly easy job turns out to be a wild ride when he finds that an ancient spell has caused the exhibits of the museum to come to life.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Main article: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Three years after the first film, several of the exhibits are transferred to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and Dexter the monkey steals the tablet of Ahkmenrah. Larry must break in and team up with his old friends, and new ally Amelia Earhart, to get it back from Ahkmenrah's resurrected evil older brother Kahmunrah before morning.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

Main article: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Five years after the second film, Larry discovers that the tablet of Ahkmenrah's magic is failing. He and his now-teenage son Nick, along with Teddy Roosevelt, Sacagawea, Jedediah, Octavius, Dexter, Attila the Hun, and a new caveman figure named Laaa (who looks like Larry) travel to the British Museum in London to undo the curse, with the help of Ahkmenrah's parents and the narcissistic Sir Lancelot of Camelot, before the tablet's magic disappears forever.

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again (2022)

Main article: Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again

In August 2019, following the purchase of 21st Century Fox and its assets by The Walt Disney Company, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a fully animated sequel of Night at the Museum was in development. The project was released as a Disney+ exclusive film, as a production by Walt Disney Pictures.

In October 2020, the movie was officially titled Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again. The project is traditionally animated and was scheduled to be released in 2021. The plot centers around Larry's son, Nick, who is hesitant to follow in his father's footsteps as nightwatchman. In addition to Nick and the titular villain, the movie also features returning characters: Jedediah, Octavius, Teddy Roosevelt and Sacagawea with the addition of Joan of Arc. Production began on November 2, 2020. Shawn Levy served as executive producer, but the majority of the original cast were initially not expected to return.^[citation needed]

In August 2021, the film was delayed to a 2022 release date. In September 2022, Matt Danner revealed he was directing the film; he previously was the creator and showrunner of the Disney animated show Legend of the Three Caballeros (2018).[1] The film was released on December 9, 2022.[1][2]

Future

Thomas Lennon hinted that another film could be developed and expressed interest in doing another live-action film with Ben Stiller. He added that the animated film "opens up a lot of new possibilities".[3]

Main cast and characters

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in the series.

• An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
•  ^C indicates a cameo role.
•  ^E indicates an appearance not included in the theatrical cut.
•  ^U indicates an uncredited appearance.
•  ^V indicates a voice-only role.
•  ^Y indicates a younger version of the character.

Characters	Films				Video game
	Night at the Museum	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
	2006	2009	2014	2022	2009
Recurring characters
Lawrence "Larry" Daley	Ben Stiller			Zachary Levi^V	Ben Stiller^V
Theodore Roosevelt	Robin Williams[a]			Thomas Lennon^V	Mark Moseley^V
Nicholas "Nick" Daley	Jake Cherry		Skyler Gisondo	Joshua Bassett^V	Jake Cherry^V
Jedediah	Owen Wilson			Steve Zahn^V	Dustin Leighton^V
Octavius	Steve Coogan			Jack Whitehall^V	Dave Wittenberg^V
Dr. McPhee	Ricky Gervais			Jamie Demetriou^V	Ricky Gervais^V
Attila	Patrick Gallagher			Alexander Salamat^V	Jim Cummings^V
Sacagawea	Mizuo Peck			Kieran Sequoia^V	Mizuo Peck^V
Dexter	Crystal the Monkey			Dee Bradley Baker^V
Easter Island Head	Brad Garrett^V			Kelemete Misipeka^V	Jim Cummings^V Brad Garrett^V
Ahkmenrah	Rami Malek				Crispin Freeman^V
Cecil "C. J." Fredericks	Dick Van Dyke	Dick Van Dyke^E^C	Dick Van Dyke Percy Hynes White^Y
Gus	Mickey Rooney	Mickey Rooney^E^C	Mickey Rooney
Reginald	Bill Cobbs	Bill Cobbs^E^C	Bill Cobbs
Erica Daley	Kim Raver			Gillian Jacobs^V
Kahmunrah		Hank Azaria		Joseph Kamal^V	Marc Graue^V Hank Azaria^V
Amelia Earhart / Tess		Amy Adams			Molly Hagan^V
Ivan the Terrible		Christopher Guest			Neil Kaplan^V
Napoleon Bonaparte		Alain Chabat			Brian George^V
Al Capone		Jon Bernthal			André Sogliuzzo^V
George Armstrong Custer		Bill Hader			Chad Einbinder^V
The Thinker		Hank Azaria^V			Ted Biaselli^V Hank Azaria^V
Abraham Lincoln Statue
Cherub Cupid Statues		Jonas Brothers^V			Jonas Brothers^V
Able the Space Monkey		Crystal the Monkey			Dee Bradley Baker^V
Albert Einstein Bobbleheads		Eugene Levy^V			Eugene Levy^V
Laaa			Ben Stiller	Zachary Levi^V
Merenkahre			Ben Kingsley	Jonathan Roumie^V
Single-film characters
Rebecca Hutman	Carla Gugino
Don	Paul Rudd
Christopher Columbus Statue	Pierfrancesco Favino
Meriwether Lewis	Martin Christopher
William Clark	Martin Sims
Sailor Joey Motorola		Jay Baruchel
Brundon the Security Guard		Jonah Hill
Docent		Mindy Kaling
Lancelot			Dan Stevens
Tilly			Rebel Wilson
Shepseheret			Anjali Jay
Madeline Phelps			Rachael Harris
Garuda Artefact			Robin Williams^V
Hugh Jackman / King Arthur			Himself^C^U
Alice Eve / Guinevere			Herself^C^U
Joan of Arc				Alice Isaaz^V
George Washington				Chris Parnell^V
Seth				Akmal Saleh^V
Ronnie				Bowen Yang^V
Mia				Shelby Simmons^V
Bodhi				Tenzing Norgay Trainor^V
Neanderthal					Chad Einbinder^V
Sheila Burns					Molly Hagan^V
Billy the Kid					Ted Biaselli^V
Cleopatra					Julie Nathanson^V
Ben Franklin					André Sogliuzzo^V

1. Williams also portrays a bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt's head from the Smithsonian Museum in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009).

Additional crew and production details

Film	Director	Producer(s)	Writer(s)	Composer	Cinematographer	Editor(s)	Production companies	Distributor
Night at the Museum	Shawn Levy	Shawn Levy Chris Columbus Michael Barnathan	Thomas Lennon Robert Ben Garant	Alan Silvestri	Guillermo Navarro	Don Zimmerman	1492 Pictures 20th Century Fox 21 Laps Entertainment	20th Century Fox
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian					John Schwartzman	Don Zimmerman Dean Zimmerman	1492 Pictures 20th Century Fox 21 Laps Entertainment Dune Entertainment
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb			David Guion Michael Handelman		Guillermo Navarro	Dean Zimmerman	1492 Pictures 20th Century Fox 21 Laps Entertainment TSG Entertainment
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again	Matt Danner[1]	Shawn Levy[4]	Ray DeLaurentis William Schifrin	John Paesano[5]	—	Luc Perrault	Walt Disney Pictures[6] Atomic Cartoons Alibaba Pictures 21 Laps Entertainment	Disney+

Reception

Further information on the reception of each film: Night at the Museum § Reception, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian § Reception, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb § Reception, and Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again § Reception

Box office

Title	U.S. release date	Budget	Box office gross				Box office ranking		Ref.
			Opening weekend (North America)	North America	Other territories	Worldwide	All time North America	All time Worldwide
Night at the Museum	December 22, 2006 (2006-12-22)	$110 million	$30,433,781	$250,863,268	$323,617,961	$574,481,229	#100	#123	[7]
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	May 22, 2009 (2009-05-22)	$150 million	$54,173,286	$177,243,721	$235,862,449	$413,106,170	#221	#220	[8]
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	December 19, 2014 (2014-12-19)	$127 million	$17,100,520	$113,746,621	$249,458,014	$363,204,635	#516	#272	[9]
Totals		$387 million	$101,707,587	$541,853,610	$808,938,424	$1,350,792,034			[10]

Critical and public response

The franchise has received mixed reviews from critics.

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore[11]
Night at the Museum	43% (136 reviews)[12]	48 (28 reviews)[13]	A-
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	45% (167 reviews)[14]	42 (31 reviews)[15]	B+
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	47% (112 reviews)[16]	47 (33 reviews)[17]	B+
Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again	71% (14 reviews)[18]	TBA

Video game

Main article: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (video game)

In April and May 2009, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – The Video Game, an action-adventure video game adaptation of the feature film of the same name, developed by Amaze Entertainment and Pipeworks Software, was published by Majesco Entertainment to BlackBerry, Wii, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, and Xbox 360.[19] Ben Stiller reprises his role in the film as the voice of Larry Daley.[20]

Stage

In April 2020, Alan Menken revealed that he is working as lyricist and composer for a stage musical adaptation of Night at the Museum.[21] On September 11, 2020, Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy revealed that he is also working on the musical, which has been in development for "a year and a half" by that point.[22] Work on the musical had to be done remotely through Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[21]

See also

• List of films featuring dinosaurs
• List of films featuring miniature people

References

1. "Matt Danner on Twitter: "Plug time! Keep and eye out for my animated movie coming to Disney+ this December!!! Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again"". Twitter. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
2. Mishra, Shrishty (November 3, 2022). "First 'Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again' Image Teases Nick Daley's Animated Return". Collider. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
3. Crowley, Liam (December 6, 2022). "Thomas Lennon Teases Night at the Museum's Future (Exclusive)". comicbook.com. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
4. "The Walt Disney Company Investor Day 2020 - THE 2020 INVESTOR DAY PROGRAMMING FACT SHEET" (PDF). Retrieved February 1, 2022.
5. Schonewill, Kyle; Earle, Robby (March 17, 2022). "What's New in the MCU with John Paesano". Friends From Work: An Unofficial Marvel Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved March 19, 2022.
6. @disneystudios (November 3, 2022). "Check out the first look at Night of the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, coming to @DisneyPlus December 9" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. "Night at the Museum (2006)". Box Office Mojo.
8. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)". Box Office Mojo.
9. "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)". Box Office Mojo.
10. "Night at the Museum franchise". boxofficemojo.com. IMDb. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
11. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
12. "Night at the Museum". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
13. "Night at the Museum". metacritic.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
14. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
15. "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". metacritic.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
16. "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
17. "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb". metacritic.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
18. "Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
19. IGN Staff (May 13, 2009). "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Available at Retail". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
20. VanOrd, Kevin (May 5, 2009). "Night at the Museum [Battle of the Smithsonian] Review (Wii)". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
21. Young Artists of America (March 28, 2020). "Talk Back with Alan Menken (2020)". YouTube. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
22. Carras, Christi (September 11, 2020). "'Night at the Museum' director teases another sequel — and a Broadway musical". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 23, 2021.